Crocus

A display always full of lovely products, this year dominated by metals in dark zinc and brass or painted in cream or eau de nil, contrasting with plain classic terracotta pots. With zinc trays starting from £2.49, there’s something for everyone.

My favourites were the space-saving yet smart pot tower with four 19cm terracotta pots, £42.99 (without pots) or £49.99 (with pots) and the fat snax bird feeder with a clever roof water bowl, so bits don’t drop in it, £19.99, in aluminium (available now) and eau de nil (available in the next few weeks), www.crocus.co.uk.

Bokashi Composter. Picture; Hozelock

Bokashi Composter. Picture; Hozelock

Hozelock

Known for their hoses and interlocking watering systems, what took my fancy was the Bokashi composter, which will make my kitchen’s cracked blue Ikea dish for veg waste redundant.

All food waste can be fermented in the airtight container with the addition of Bokashi Bran before being turned into nutrient-rich liquid compost and an enhancer when added to a traditional compost bin, £55, www.hozelock.com.

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Colours of the rainbow! Picture; Nutscene

Allotment collection. Picture; Nutscene

Neon collection. Picture; Nutscene

Twine in a tin. Picture; Nutscene

Earthy twine colours. Picture; Nutscene

Raffia. Picture; Nutscene

Twine ball. Picture; Nutscene

Nutscene

Established in 1922 in Dundee, the company’s jute twines are now available in all sorts of colours, including neon and are used not just for gardening but for crafts and decoration. It’s produced from sustainable crops and is biodegradable, from £2.30, www.nutscene.com.

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BGA 45. Picture; Stihl

FSA 45. Picture; Stihl

BGA 45. Picture; Stihl

FSA 45. Picture; Stihl

HLA 56. Picture; Stihl

HSA 45. Picture; Stihl

STIHL

The firm’s lawnmower range welcomes more than 35 new models this year, including petrol, mulching, ride-on and robotic mowers.

Fans of petrol lawnmowers can choose from 17 models. For smaller gardens, the RM 248 is an affordable, efficient and easy-handling petrol mower.

Also new is the RMA 2 RT, STIHL’s first cordless mulching mower, combining battery power from its PRO battery system, with the fertilisation benefits of mulching.

Completing the mower line-up is iMow, the robotic mower that cuts grass automatically. Equipped with double sharpened mulching blades, it fertilises the lawn naturally without the need to dispose of clippings.

All STIHL mowers come with a five-year domestic warranty and prices start from £299 for the RM 248 petrol mower.

There is also the new HLA 56 long reach hedge trimmer (£199), as well as a selection of products from STIHL’s Lithium-Ion range (HSA 45, FSA 45 and BGA 45) that all cost £99 each, www.stihl.co.uk.

Tree and Shrub Tie-Back. Picture; Twool

Tree and Shrub Tie-Back. Picture; Twool

Twool

Championing British wool is Twool, which makes garden twine, woolly bags, hats, dog leads and the new sustainable tree and shrub tie.

Made from rare breed Whiteface Dartmoor wool, it’s an eco-friendly alternative to imported jute, as well as being renewable and strong.

When it finally degrades, it releases nitrogen from the wool back into the soil, www.twool.co.uk.

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Raised bed. Picture; WoodBlocX

Joining the wooden bricks. Picture; WoodBlocX

Easy to make in to any shape. Picture; WoodBlocX

Solid, stylish wooden bed. Picture; WoodBlocX

WoodBlocX

A fan of Lego or Meccano? You’ll love WoodBlocX, made from sustainable pine in Scotland.

You can literally create anything you like from these modular wooden blocks – raised beds, seats, walls, ponds, edging – your imagination is the limit.

New this year is a change in the dowel system which holds the blocks together, making them easier to take apart.

Should you have a particularly awkward problem, Calum assures me they can solve most things with made-to-measure elements, or check out their ready-to-make kits, www.WoodBlocX.com.

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Mandy Watson is a freelance journalist and an incurable plantaholic. MandyCanUDigIt grew from the tiny seed of a Twitter account into the rainforest of information you see before you. Gardening columnist for the Sunderland Echo, Shields Gazette and Hartlepool Mail and editor of the Teesdale Mercury Magazine. Attracted by anything rebellious, exotic and nerdy, even after all these years. Passionate about northern England and gardens everywhere. Falls over a lot.

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Mandy Watson is a freelance journalist and plantaholic with roots firmly planted in working-class NE England. MandyCanUDigIt grew from the tiny seed of a Twitter account into this rainforest of information. JPIMedia gardening columnist and Teesdale Mercury Magazine editor. Garden Media Guild and NUJ member. Mission statement: to make gardening more accessible to the often excluded - the less able, the hard-up or beginners. Advocate of gardening for better mental health.